Nos
by Fyrefli
Summary: A suspected hacker sends the Freakylinks staff out on a case, but they get much more than what they bargained for.
1. Default Chapter

** Hey guys. This is the first chapter of a story I'm considering. Please r/r, and be critical. :) I need it. Anyways. Remember, this is just a story, for my favourite (and unfortunatly off-air :( ) television show. I don't know anyone, or anything that has anything to do with the show, blah blah blah... :) -FF **  
  
Chapter 1  
  
Slowing the beat up old truck to a crawl, the two occupants rolled their windows down, peer out into the midnight air. Their breath floated away in a barely visible cloud of white steam, the cool air making itself known to the two. Although it wasn't cold enough for frost, the water droplets had begun to harden slightly, reflecting the brake lights like tiny blood-red fireflies.   
  
"It's just a tiny little out-of-the-way town." Derek commented, reaching in the back for a flashlight. He turned the beam out of the open window, the green of the cornrow stalks peering back at him. "God knows what the hell that means it's hiding." He sighed, turning skyward.   
  
"It's not like we're totally leaving cilvilization behind, though." Jason replied, sighing himself as the rows stretched out ahead of them. "Is it?" Silence fell between the two men, leaving Derek's mind to wander. He considered everything he saw before him, and rolled up the window, pulling back onto the main road into town.   
  
***~~***  
- 4 week ealier -  
  
"You think you've seen everything yet, Derek? I beg to differ. Here's a path even Adam couldn't come across, but it's being served to you on a silver platter. If you're willing to test your fear properly, and that of your Freaks, I'm ready to talk. Kenetics chatrooms, my username: Nos." The words flowed with such an air of certainty, leaping off the screen at Lan. Her fingers came to a stop over the keyboard, something she had rarely done in the last few days. So many cases had been coming and going, to keep herself, and the others at Freakylinks busy.   
  
She thought of calling Derek, then thought twice. Maybe this was just another crackpot trying to lead them all on. "Are you for real?" She said, not even realizing it was aloud. Her words only echoed back anyways, everyone was out for the night, taking a break and doing their own thing. Searching through her own huge links file, she finally managed to stumble upon a link to the Kenetics chatrooms, saving herself probably a large search, because as soon as she had the page loaded, she knew it wasn't accessed by many people. The scripts were all out of date, and most of the code wasn't finished.   
  
NOS You aren't Derek   
  
The words jumped up from the web page, opening in it's own window. The font was that of Century goth, dark red, against a black background. Lan jumped, pulling a hand to her mouth. Her fingers were posed on the keys, them she realized there was no bar for her to type into.  
  
NOS Just type Tell me who you are   
  
FL You're Nos?   
  
Lan's fingers flew across the keyboard, her eyes not even registering the fact that her own username of FL appeared when she tapped the enter button. She had never entered one.  
  
NOS I am And you're not Derek Who are you   
  
Lan smirked slightly, clicking in her answer before she had barely finished reading the question.  
  
FL If you know I'm not Derek, then how can you not tell who I am?   
  
NOS Your mind is clouded You are worried about yourself Derek A relationship is involved   
  
The phone rang on a shelf beside the monitor, but Lan didn't even notice. Her eyes were glued to the screen. Derek had been seeing a new girl recently, but Lan didn't trust her. Chloe only complained she never trusted anyone Derek was dating. The phone continued to ring, and Lan began to reach for it, but the next message stole her hand away.  
  
NOS Your love for him flows so freely but he never reciprocates He knows it and respects it but it will never be returned Worry not you will find love in time much as your wounds will heal and Derek will move on   
  
FL How do you know this?   
  
Lan had intended to write for longer, but screen flicked and shut off in a bright flash of light. She yelped, and pulled back, covering her eyes purely out of reflex. All the lights in the room had died, one of them exploding with a loud pop, sending her over the edge, into a scream. The phone had stopped ringing moments before, and she set about to make sure nothing besides the lightbulb had been broken.  
  
Shaking with fear, and a touch of anger, she lit a match, and touched it to the wick of a nearby candle, burning the tip of her finger in the meantime. Broken glass sparkled on the floor, reflecting the light of the flame, and the glow of a streetlight outside the window. She bent, starting to pick up the shards. The bits has almost been cleaned up, when another behind her exploded. She screamed again, nearly in tears.   
  
A loud pounding on the door broke the thick tension that was building in the air, but this time Lan managed to stay quiet. "Lan, what the hell? The door won't open! I called ealier and let the phone ring for like ten minutes!" The familiar male voice muffled by the door was both a comfort, and a curse. Vision of her earlier conversation with Nos filled her head.   
  
"Derek!" She practically leapt over the couch, trying to open the door. The handle turned, but the action proved fruitless. The door wouldn't budge. "I am so freaked out right now, Der. Just kick in the door or something!" She couldn't keep the fear, or tension out of her voice. She heard him grunting, and felt the force of his kick, but the door would not give. The candle flickered innocently on the table, oblivious of the fear in the room.   
  
Suddenly, in a flash almost as bright as the one that turned it off, the monitor regained power.   
  
NOS You are not much fun to scare   
  
Lan slumped against the door, the air leaving her in a small puff of defeat.  
  
NOS Maybe next time you will learn to not be so difficult Lan   
  
The room was suddenly silent, and the lights came back on. The candle slowly flickered, and died, as though gently blown out. Large shards of glass littered the floor from the second broken bulb, along with the bits of powdered glass from the first. Lan crawled away from the door, leaning back against the sofa instead. "The door will open now, Derek."   
  
The door creaked open, and Derek leaned in cautiously, questioning look on his face. He peered at the glass on the floor, and the blank screen. "What the hell happened here? Contained tornado?" He leaned over to help Lan back to her feet, boosting her up and over the now sparkly carpet. He hugged her to his chest, feeling her shake with fear.   
  
"It asked for you, but I went..." She started softly, and explained everything that happened to him. Derek peered around the room again, and parted from Lan. He went to the computer, tapping the mouse gently. The black screen disappeared, returning to the normal layout. Lan disappeared from the room, headed for some tea, and a hot bath.  
  
NOS Derek I have waited to speak to you but I think now you are ready   
  
The conversation screen popped up again, and he pulled a chair over, posing his fingers over the keys. 


	2. Chapter 2

** Hey guys. This is the first chapter of a story I'm considering. Please r/r, and be critical. :) I need it. Anyways. Remember, this is just a story, for my favourite (and unfortunatly off-air :( ) television show. I don't know anyone, or anything that has anything to do with the show, blah blah blah... :) -FF **  
  
Chapter 2  
  
Derek's hands slid down to the sides of the steering wheel absently, his fingers latching in where the center met the actual wheel. Thoughs still focused on the night four weeks ago, he didn't notice the girl up ahead. Jason, however, did.   
  
"Why don't we stop, and pick her up?" He asked suddenly, noticing even himself how odd it sounded, coming from him. After seeing some of the things he had working on at Freakylinks, he had made a promise to himself to never pick up hitchhikers, regardless of gender, or in one strange case, species. "I mean, we're in the middle of nowhere out here, Der."  
  
Derek jumped slightly, hearing his name. "Jesus, Jason." Jason only shrugged slightly. He was supposed to be driving, right? "Yeah, alright." He pulled up ahead of the girl, slowing it to a complete stop gently. Rolling down his window, the girl ran to catch up. "Need a ride into town?"  
  
Stepping into the glow of the truck's headlights, he tooking in her long, straight, jet black hair, and pale, wide set green eyes. They glowed like that of a cat's, caught in a highbeam. "Thanks, but I'm fine. Not too much further in." Derek shrugged, and smiled.  
  
"Are you sure? I mean, it's just cornfields out there." He motioned to the sides of the road, lined with row after row of corn, as far as the eye could see.  
  
"Really, Derek. Nos sends words of congratulations to you. She says she's proud of you for choosing the correct town. She's not far now, you know. Good luck. And good luck to you, as well, Jason." The cat-like girl smiled, a row off too perfect teeth sparkling beneath her blood-red lip, and it was hard not to notice the much-too-sharp canines that indented the bottom one.  
  
Fear shot through Derek's body, burning through his limbs, making his stomach turn. Mouth ajar, he turned to face his friend, who only stared straight out the front window, making no sound, nor movements, at all. His blue eyes jumped to the rear view window, only the red glow of the tail lights meeting his eyes. "She- She's fucking gone!" He hopped out of the car, tearing down the side of the truck.   
  
Jason met him around the back. "We're not even there yet, and this place is starting to really creep me out." He commented softly, glancing around. "Lets just get back in the truck, and keep going, Derek. Derek?" Derek had faded off again, searching through the rows, his pale face, and hair reflecting bright red. Jason snapped his fingers in front of his face, fighting back a mad urge to slap him. "Come on, man!"  
  
"Fine, but you drive. I'm like falling asleep here." Jason nodded his agreement, hand returning to the parked vehicle, not so patiently waiting for Derek to follow suit. Instead of sitting up front with Jason, he instead got in the back, stretching out amongst the clutter and equipment. He dozed off almost instantly, dreaming of what his thoughts were so focused on.  
  
  
***~~***  
- 1 week ealier -  
  
"They got into the system again, Derek. And it was a bitch trying to clean it up afterwards. You have to find out who they are, or I'm gonna pull the site down until they give up." Lan said, diving for the pizza Chloe laid on the table.  
  
"Careful. My fingers aren't for eatting." The pretty young psychologist giggled softly, glancing over at Jason and Derek. Both looked half asleep, having been up most of the previous night, and all day, trying to decode some of the messages they'd been receiving in the many e-mails, hacked pages, and everything. "Do you use the phone in the computer, Lan? I have a couple times, but not my favourite type of communication. I always feel stupid talking to the thing."   
  
Lan nodded, her mouth full of melted cheese, and assorted toppings. "Yeah," she finally managed between mouthfuls. "All the time. I've actually got your cellphone numbers programmed in it."  
  
"Oh, shit!" Derek exclaimed suddenly, causing all of them to jump. Lan coughed loudly, quickly excusing herself. "They can get at our phone numbers. Dammit, why didn't I think of that before. Someone called me not yesterday, but the day before. I answered it, but no one talked. I could hear something in the background. It was almost like an echo. It was as though, someone had just said something, before I picked up, but-but in like a huge room. You know, like in gym class in high school, when everything echoed?" Chloe nodded in agreement, and Lan returned.  
  
"Have you guys managed to figure something out yet?" Lan asked, returning to her pizza slice, but much slower this time, in case of more outbursts.   
  
"You alright? Yeah, a town. Funny name, it's called Nightshade."  
  
"I'm fine. As in the plant, Nightshade?"   
  
"Exactly. So I did a little research. It's actually not that far from here. Maybe a days drive? It's just a tiny little town, maybe two thousand people? But it's very elite. I saw pictures of the houses, and they looked more than a little expensive." Derek laid out a series of photos from a portfolio on the floor beside him. The houses looked typical mansions, the fronts lined with pilars, with several large, plate glass windows, and expansive gardens stretched out the front. "But then check out this one." He set the next one away from the others, still quite taken with it.   
  
The house was more like a castle. It stood at least four stories tall, and stretched to the frame of the photograph, and beyond. Ivy, which had obviously been there for quite a while, came all the way up to an upper window, where the vines gently tappered off to expose the silvery grey brick. Statues stood around the doorway, filling the spaces between the cream pilars, which were cracked, and aged, only adding to the atmosphere. The windows were all black, the folds of curtains barely visible behind the glass.   
  
"This is where we have to go." 


End file.
